You can find offers for VOIP service all over the place. You get them in various monthly bills, you see them scattered all over at Best Buy and Circuit City, and your DSL or cable provider is probably offering it to you as well. How to choose which one is best?
The answer to this is that the one that is most convenient to purchase is RARELY going to be your most cost effective option. People like "easy", but at the same time, "easy" costs more money than you need to be spending. Let's look at some examples.
With my cable bill every month, the cable carrier includes a flyer about how great their VOIP service is and offer me a gazillion reasons I should sign up for it. Oh really? What they offer for $39.95 per month is less than what I would get from Packet8 VOIP service or SunRocket VOIP service, yet they want me to pay $15 more each month for getting less. But I have the convenience of ordering through my cable provider, and the convenience of having my VOIP bill on the same invoice as my cable bill. While I like convenience, is paying $15 more per month, or $180 more each year, really worth it, especially when I am getting LESS service than I would for less money with VOIP options? I don't think so.
What about Vonage, with their huge TV advertising budget, and offers all over the place, is Vonage a good deal? In my own use of the Vonage VOIP system, I am not impressed. There are more features to be found for the same or less money with other VOIP services, and the quality of the Vonage connection was not as good as even my cell phone. That is my personal experience and your mileage may vary, but I am just reporting what I have found.
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The answer to this is that the one that is most convenient to purchase is RARELY going to be your most cost effective option. People like "easy", but at the same time, "easy" costs more money than you need to be spending. Let's look at some examples.
With my cable bill every month, the cable carrier includes a flyer about how great their VOIP service is and offer me a gazillion reasons I should sign up for it. Oh really? What they offer for $39.95 per month is less than what I would get from Packet8 VOIP service or SunRocket VOIP service, yet they want me to pay $15 more each month for getting less. But I have the convenience of ordering through my cable provider, and the convenience of having my VOIP bill on the same invoice as my cable bill. While I like convenience, is paying $15 more per month, or $180 more each year, really worth it, especially when I am getting LESS service than I would for less money with VOIP options? I don't think so.
What about Vonage, with their huge TV advertising budget, and offers all over the place, is Vonage a good deal? In my own use of the Vonage VOIP system, I am not impressed. There are more features to be found for the same or less money with other VOIP services, and the quality of the Vonage connection was not as good as even my cell phone. That is my personal experience and your mileage may vary, but I am just reporting what I have found.
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